Retirement Village Fund Budgets

What it is

A Queensland retirement village must budget two funds every year, the capital replacement fund and the maintenance reserve fund, nine years ahead, from a quantity surveyor's schedule, in prescribed formats and reconciled to the accounts. It is the body corporate sinking fund rule with a different name. We build both budgets and the ten-year model from your QS report, reconcile them, and roll them forward each year.

How we do it

We take the quantity surveyor's report (the full three-yearly report or the interim update), the fund balances, the last two years' statements and the current contribution schedule.

We build a ten-year model for each fund: the QS schedule year by year, escalated and timed, against the contributions and the balance, so the budget for the current year reserves its share of the nine years ahead.

We produce both budgets in the format that applies from 2025-26, the quarterly statement figures, and the reconciliation to the financial statements with every difference explained.

We write a resident-facing summary of what the funds hold and what they will pay for.

Each year we roll both models forward with actuals and the QS update, and give you a change log.

Is this for you?

Clients usually call us for this when:

• You operate a Queensland retirement village and the new budget and statement formats now apply.
• The quantity surveyor's report has arrived and someone has to turn it into budgets.
• Residents have questioned contributions or a special levy.
• You are buying or selling a village and the funds need to be shown in order.

What you receive, and what each gives you

• Capital replacement fund budget and ten-year model from the QS schedule, with the contribution needed each yearBoth fund budgets and ten-year models from the QS schedule.
• Maintenance reserve fund budget and ten-year model, with the general services charge componentThe prescribed-format budgets and quarterly statement figures.
• Reconciliation of both funds to the financial statements, with every difference explained as the regulation requiresThe reconciliation to the accounts with differences explained.
• Quarterly statement figures in the prescribed formatA resident summary.
• Resident-facing summary of what the funds hold, what they will pay for and whenQuarterly statement figures in the prescribed format.
• Annual roll-forward: last year's actuals in, the QS update applied, both budgets re-set, with a change logAn annual roll-forward with a change log.
• 60-minute walkthrough with the village manager and the auditor's questions anticipatedA walkthrough with the auditor's questions anticipated.

What changes for you

• Budgets that satisfy the Act, the auditor and the residents committee.
• Contributions set from the schedule, not from last year plus a bit.
• One model carried forward each year instead of a rebuild.

The questions it answers

• Do the two funds reserve enough for the next nine years?
• What contribution does each fund need this year, and why?
• Where do the QS report, the budgets and the statements disagree?

Words we use, explained

Capital replacement fund

The fund for replacing the village's capital items; the operator contributes.

Maintenance reserve fund

The fund for maintaining and repairing capital items; residents contribute through the general services charge.

Quantity surveyor's report

The schedule of items, remaining lives and costs that both budgets must be based on; a full report every three years from an AIQS member or fellow, with updates between.

What we’ll need from you

A one-page checklist comes with the engagement letter, with a private page to upload everything. The main items:

• Current quantity surveyor's report for both funds, and the last full report if the current one is an update
• Last two years' audited financial statements and the current fund balances
• Current budgets for both funds and the residents' contribution schedule
• Capital works completed in the last three years and anything deferred
• Residence contracts summary: number of units, exit fee basis, who pays what
• Any correspondence with the residents committee or the regulator about the funds
• Who signs the budgets and when the residents meeting is

Not included

• The quantity surveyor's report itself; we can introduce an AIQS quantity surveyor.
• The audit of the financial statements, or legal advice on the Act.
• Resident consultation, or the village's operating budget beyond the two funds.

The technical detail

The capital replacement fund and maintenance reserve fund budgets for a Queensland retirement village, built from the quantity surveyor's report in the formats that apply from 2025-26, covering the current year plus at least nine years, reconciled to the financial statements with differences explained, and rolled forward each year.

Often paired with

Body Corporate Sinking Fund Forecast: The same model for a body corporate's sinking fund, if the operator also manages strata schemes.

Annual Refresh (Sinking Fund or LTFP): The Annual Refresh approach applied to the two fund models each year.

Common questions